Europe

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Europe

Europe faces an interesting set of immigration challenges and opportunities: Demographic pressures as many European societies age, a lively and at times tense policy and political debate over questions of identity and immigrant integration, and a unique policy environment that has knit 28 European countries together with regards to the management of outer borders, asylum, and other immigration-related topics. MPI has long conducted research and analysis of European policy on topics ranging from labor mobility and border security to immigrant integration, citizenship, and foreign qualifications recognition, which can be found below.

As the European Union seeks to implement a Common European Asylum System, these publications and multimedia resources from MPI and MPI Europe examine asylum policy and humanitarian flows to Europe and elsewhere around the world.

Since the murder of Theo van Gogh in 2004, the debate on immigrant integration has become more intense. MPI Senior Policy Analyst Joanne van Selm provides the latest developments in this updated Country Profile.

Schengen eliminated border controls between European countries, and established a common external border. MPI's Julia Gelatt explains the changes brought by Schengen and the effects Schengen has had on European border control, visa, and asylum policies.

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This report examines existing collaborative teacher exchange programs some U.S. states and districts have established with Mexico and Spain, and identifies such programs as a relatively unexplored, yet promising strategy for alleviating endemic teacher shortages and meeting the needs of LEP students.

The size and characteristics of immigration to the UK have changed significantly. Immigrants are more numerous, more mobile, and more diverse than ever before. This report looks at the differing immigration patterns.

German media has helped reinforce the image of immigrants as “aliens” — sometimes even in exaggerated terms — since the first guest workers came to Germany in the 1950s. By focusing primarily on the problems associated with migration in Germany, the report shows that media have helped contribute to an atmosphere of polarization among the German public.

What politicians say about a crisis — and the venues they choose tocommunicate with their constituents — have a disproportionate effect on the public‘s perception of that crisis. In the Netherlands, the rhetoric used by right-wing populist politicians is often more effective than that of moderates because their rhetoric conveys passion and emotion, and is more readily picked up by modern media who favor crisis and controversy.

Germany has de facto been receiving immigrants for the last four decades, but the government only began actively dealing with the long-term impact of immigration a decade ago. Since the 1990s, Germany shifted away from stemming flows to recognizing its identity as a country of immigration and managing the impact of immigration on society.

Since 1999, concern about immigration in Britain has reached levels never seen before in the history of public opinion research, and surveys show strong support for tougher immigration laws. But opinions vary: younger, better-educated people and those who tend to live in areas with a longer history of immigration are more tolerant than older, less-educated people in more settled communities with low levels of immigration.

Since 2000, the German government has undertaken a series of steps to reform laws and shape public opinion in order to bring about better integration and managed migration. This can be said to constitute a new policy paradigm, the goal of which is to integrate nonnationals and promote harmonious community relations.